WxBackup moves WeChat chat history to a NAS and back again

A NAS app for chat history, sold as a membership

WxBackup is described as a paid WeChat backup and restore tool aimed at NAS devices, supporting HarmonyOS, Apple and Android phones, and it can move data in both directions, from the phone to the NAS and from the NAS back to the phone. The stated goal is long term storage and the ability to view the data whenever you want, and the feature set covers full and incremental backup along with full and partial restore. It is not open source in any practical sense. The repository contains only a README.md and an assets/ directory, the primary language field is recorded as unknown, and the licence is recorded as unknown as well. What the repository is is the product documentation, and it is unusually detailed documentation for a commercial tool, with screenshots of the web and mobile interfaces, step by step instructions, and a long frequently asked questions section. The tool ships as a Feiniu package with a .fpk installer, and versions are released through the GitHub releases page rather than through the repository source.

Why the built-in WeChat backup is not enough

The documentation spends a section on this, and the reasons it gives are the honest justification for a third party tool. Access is the first point: the interface is simple, a backup takes a few steps to the NAS, and the chat records can then be viewed from a browser or from another NAS application on a computer or a phone. After the first web login, everything can be done from the phone side, including logging in and starting a backup. The second point is NAS support, with no jailbreak and no root needed, which is the part that distinguishes this from tools that read the local WeChat database directly. The third is multiple accounts, since several WeChat accounts can be backed up. The fourth is offline viewing, and this is the one that matters most: once a conversation has been backed up, the records can be read without depending on WeChat being logged in, and they stay readable even if the account is later restricted. The fifth is data location, since the backed up records are stored only on your own NAS and the tool does not send data to any other platform.

The port requirement, and why it is not optional

The documentation puts this in a section titled read before using, marked as very important, and the requirement is absolute. Before using the tool you must open ports 9014, 24011, 8011 and 20360 through 20367, and make sure those ports are not occupied, otherwise the program may start abnormally or fail to work. The most interesting part is the reason for two of them. The 8011 and 24011 ports are the ones WeChat itself uses, so the tool cannot change them. The documented consequence is a specific failure: on HarmonyOS, tapping start backup in the tool makes the phone jump to WeChat's own backup screen, and during that jump the tool reports that the backup failed and was cancelled, and the phone then says the phone and the computer must be on the same network. The only remedy given is to stop whatever application is occupying 8011 and 24011 from the application centre, run the backup, and then re-enable those applications. The same port set has to be allowed through the firewall with all protocols for inbound and outbound access, and a member status that turns into a trial is also blamed on the firewall.

Installing on Feiniu, and the platform gap

The install path is specific and short. The Feiniu system version has to be v1.1.19 or above, you download the WxBackup package from the GitHub releases page, choosing the file named with the .fpk extension, and you install it from the manual install option in the lower left of the application centre. The platform support list is narrower than the phone support list, and this is the biggest limitation in the project. Feiniu OS on x86 is listed as available, and Feiniu OS on ARM is also listed as available, while the Docker version is described as coming soon, with a note that it was originally planned before the spring festival and has been delayed further by circumstances beyond the author's control. The documentation explains that the two Feiniu builds are basically identical and that the tutorial therefore uses the x86 web interface as the example throughout, and it also says that more mainstream platforms are planned for the future. Until then, a NAS that is not Feiniu has no path to running this tool, which is a hard boundary rather than a preference.

The backup routine, and the constraint it puts on you

The documented workflow starts on the web side, because logging in a new WeChat account or logging in for the first time has to be done in the computer web interface, and then moves to the phone. The instructions carry a warning that a HarmonyOS WeChat backup differs slightly from the Apple and Android flow, so the screens on the phone differ too. The backup constraints are the part worth planning around. The backup can take a long time, and the longer the chat history the longer it takes, so the documentation advises picking an idle time slot. The phone's WeChat can still be used normally during the backup, but the app must stay in the foreground, because switching it to the background will make the backup fail. Both incremental backup and resumable backup are supported, which is the practical mitigation for a long transfer, and the process itself moves through a backing up state, a sorting data state and an updating data state before it completes. The restore flow carries the same constraints, including the foreground requirement and the long duration.

The viewer, and what it can and cannot read

The chat record viewer is the part of the product that justifies the subscription for many people, because it is where the offline promise is delivered. It analyses the chat record data and searches it, with the search able to filter by date and by content type including files, images, video, links, mini programs, video channels, and music and audio, and it lists contacts, covering friends, group chats, official accounts and WeCom contacts. It also shows the number of messages in a conversation and can export files, though file export is currently only supported on the web side. The supported message types are extensive, covering text, images, video, red packets, system messages such as recalls and group invitations, contact cards, mini programs, files, links, voice messages, WeChat emoji, location, transfers, music shares, GIFs, video channel posts and live sessions, group check-in messages, group announcements, gifts, merged messages and quoted messages. Two categories are explicitly unsupported, official account notifications such as WeChat Pay and Tencent News, and voice or video calls. A third note says other message types are still being worked on.

Membership terms, expiry and what survives

The membership model is per WeChat account and it has consequences that are spelled out in detail. One WeChat account can buy one membership, and multiple accounts need multiple purchases, with a membership corresponding to one account and being an annual membership once bought. During the valid period the account supports unlimited backups, whether full or incremental, while a non member gets one trial backup. Whether or not someone is a member, the existing features work after a backup has been taken. The membership is bound to the WeChat account rather than to the NAS, so changing the NAS device does not affect it, and reinstalling the app and logging in is enough to continue; currently only Feiniu is supported. Changing the WeChat account also does not affect it. The part to read carefully is expiry. After the annual membership expires you cannot log in, back up or restore, but you can still view the chat records you have already backed up, and for non HarmonyOS WeChat there is an emergency restore path described in the frequently asked questions.

Where this tool does not fit

There are several clear mismatches. The Docker version is not available, so anyone who wants the app on Synology, TrueNAS, Unraid or a plain Linux server has nothing to install today. The Feiniu requirement is a hard dependency, not a preference, and the documentation's promise of more mainstream platforms later is a plan rather than a shipped fact. The HarmonyOS port conflict is the sharpest operational risk, since 8011 and 24011 are ports WeChat needs, which means on a busy NAS you may have to stop another application to run a backup. The requirement that WeChat stay in the foreground during a backup makes unattended scheduled backups awkward, because the documented flow is one where a person taps start on the phone. And the whole model depends on the device remaining available, since the tool reads the chat data through the phone's WeChat rather than from a detached database. A separate, and more serious, consideration is that the tool reads and stores other people's conversations and attaches, so anyone deploying it on a shared or work device needs to think about who can reach the NAS and the web interface, and about the access password feature, which is optional and can be set in the settings page once a WeChat account is selected.

Editorial conclusion

Adopt WxBackup if you run a Feiniu NAS and your WeChat history is worth keeping outside the phone, particularly if you want to read old conversations from a browser without logging into WeChat at all. Do not adopt it if you need a Docker deployment today, since the documentation lists the Docker version as still forthcoming, or if your NAS is not Feiniu, since that is the only platform currently supported. Verify two things before you pay for a membership: that ports 9014, 24011, 8011 and 20360 to 20367 are free and unblocked by the firewall, because the tool cannot work otherwise, and that the HarmonyOS flow works for you in particular, since the documentation ties 8011 and 24011 to WeChat's own use of them and describes that conflict in detail. The practical first step is to install the package through the Feiniu application centre and confirm the ports are open before you create the first backup.

Frequently asked questions

Official sources

1. Issues
2. README
3. Releases
4. weibeifen/wxbackup on GitHub